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How to run Guitarist Auditions?

#41
Nagrom said:
I agree with the interview-first approach. Less time wasted with "guitar players" answering your ad who:

a. need a new home (your garage, ok?)
b. need an advance to get their gear out of hock
c. need a ride everywhere
d. call 45 minutes after the appointment time & attempt a re-schedule
e. smell of alcohol & are strangely jittery
f. panic when a cop drives by

I could go on,went through it a while back, and you wouldn't believe what shows up.
Click to expand...

A band I was once in a new lead guitarist, he had done well in practice, but we didn't know much about him. I picked him up for a gig (needed a ride, needed an advance to get minutes on his cell phone, always later, always jittery, etc...). I start to head to the gig. As we get closer he stares blanklly at me.

"Are we going to Fremont?"

"Yes, that's where we're playing."

"I can't play there, the cops know me. They'll put me away forever if I go to Fremont."

Sigh.
 
#42
Why is it ya'll want to spoon feed a potential band mate. Ya first want ta meet and greet. Then ya wanna get together and play a couple songs. Etc, etc, etc,

1. You are auditioning him, he is auditioning you. Be clear what you want and make your offer attractive.

2. Show him your WHOLE list of songs. does he know any of them. Ask to see his whole list. If you can't find a dozen mutual songs maybe he's not right.

3. Jam for at least an hour (if not 3).

4. Many people here say personalities are the most important thing. They are right. But. Remember everyone is on their best behavior, maybe for several weeks.

5. Attitude!!! You can teach someone how to play guitar. You can not teach ATTITUDE.

Good luck on your search.
 
#44
two-year resurrection, yep. But still a good thread.

My philosophy is this: In the corporate world, you don't have to like the people you work with, but you do have to respect their jobs.

When you're creating art - or "recreating art" in the case of playing covers - you really do have to like AND respect your fellow band mates. An audience may not know that you correctly played the bassline on [insert song title here], but they will know if the band is unified in putting on a good show. If there is any tension, people can sense it and they'll be distracted and they won't have a good time...and that's the band's job.

So, yes, we email and talk on the phone first (only one person does this). Then if that goes well, face-to-face meetings with the band over lunch or coffee. Then, if we truly like the person - and they like us - we'll audition 5-6 songs with them.

It's not hard, but it can be arduous. You just have to be patient and not think about "filling a slot," but rather "awarding membership." And if you're lucky, meeting a new friend.
 
#45
Dave Muscato said:
An approach that works well is a trial period. For some reason, people tend not to consider this when they're auditioning people. It's good for both the band and the newcomer because it doesn't set up the pressure of making a permanent decision. Basically, if you find someone you like, tell them you're going to give it a two-week trial period before you spend the money for new business cards, photos, web content, etc. Book at least two or three gigs and two or three rehearsals in there, and hang out at least once without involving music. Make it clear that at the end of the two weeks, either party is free to say it's not working out, with no hard feelings. If the guy turns out to be a flake or a douchebag, at least you found out about it *before* you're in the middle of a 22-date stretch, and you didn't spend $$ on new promo materials. Or, if it turns out he doesn't like your music after all, or *you* guys turn out to be flakes or douchebags, or the money isn't as good as he hoped it would be, he can move on without anybody getting upset. You might even end up with a fill-in player from the experience.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

I have no problem with this approach , however I think it's more for a band that is booked up to the hilt with at least 75.00 a man shows.

Me personally I would pass on the trial if it was 2-3 gig a month band. Because 2-3 usually means 1-2.

blue
 
#46
awakefie said:
A band I was once in a new lead guitarist, he had done well in practice, but we didn't know much about him. I picked him up for a gig (needed a ride, needed an advance to get minutes on his cell phone, always later, always jittery, etc...). I start to head to the gig. As we get closer he stares blanklly at me.

"Are we going to Fremont?"

"Yes, that's where we're playing."

"I can't play there, the cops know me. They'll put me away forever if I go to Fremont."

Sigh.
Click to expand...

A lot of you guys frown on the;

  • Are you married?

  • Do you have a girl friend?

  • What do you do for a living?

  • Where did you go to school?

  • I noticed somebody dropped you off here, do you have your own transportation?

These are good screen out the flakes questions.

blue
 
#48
Most of ya'll audition like a garage band with nothing but time on your hands and no gigs.

Sunday I get a call to do an audition at a local bar next Saturday. I'm given a list of 45 songs we're doing. They will see very clearly what time I show up. What gear I gig with. Am I prepared for the songs they play. Personalities will show over beers after set up. How do I handle the stress on stage. How do I participate in entertaining a crowd.

I have "jammed" once with the drummer and have no clue who else is in the band. They are giving me $100 bux for my time. If I do well, I'm invited back. If I don't do well they'll find someone else. Now thats an audition.

By the way I've done lots of these kinds of auditions and usually turn down the next round of auditions unless theres a big carrot.

The way most of ya'll audition I would start ignoring phone calls and emails after the first contact. Then ya'll would call me a FLAKE.
 
#49
James Judson said:
Most of ya'll audition like a garage band with nothing but time on your hands and no gigs.

Sunday I get a call to do an audition at a local bar next Saturday. I'm given a list of 45 songs we're doing. They will see very clearly what time I show up. What gear I gig with. Am I prepared for the songs they play. Personalities will show over beers after set up. How do I handle the stress on stage. How do I participate in entertaining a crowd.

I have "jammed" once with the drummer and have no clue who else is in the band. They are giving me $100 bux for my time. If I do well, I'm invited back. If I don't do well they'll find someone else. Now thats an audition.

By the way I've done lots of these kinds of auditions and usually turn down the next round of auditions unless theres a big carrot.

The way most of ya'll audition I would start ignoring phone calls and emails after the first contact. Then ya'll would call me a FLAKE.
Click to expand...

I see where your coming from.That's more of a pro strategy for an audition.

A lot of us are auditioning on the low end caliber of bands.

blue
 
#50
I had one band where the keyboard player wanted to meet first. Never heard of that before. I see some advocating it, but it just seemed like a total waste of time.

Now that you've driven all the way across town and wasted half a night you still don't know if the guy sucks.

For God's sake, at least bring your gear with you so if the interview works out you can get some playing time in.

For me, the interview process can be handled over the phone. You need to see if the guys going to work out musically.

You get guys that can play, that makes it fun, that cuts the drama way down, and makes a little drama worth overlooking.

And keep a wood chipper running in the background to see how he does under pressure.

Randy
 
#51
I say try them out one at a time even an afternoon at a time, and give them your setlist and allow them to pick 3-4 songs to audition.

That being said...

I think you should do it alla, Randy, Simon and Paula and hand them yellow sheets of paper if they get to go to Hollywood and wish the other less fortunate contestants well. The more guitar players you get to wait in a lobby to try out the bigger of a deal it will be, then take 15 finalist and try different material every week to weed them out.

Get it syndicated and get a few dollars for your troubles, it's a win win... Your band gets famous for all the hype and you find the most versatile guitarist for your band!

throw in a couple big name sponsors and viola!

That was going to be my original contribution then I figured it would most likely infringe on several forum rules and regs... :bassist:
 
#52
Not to be snobby, but I'm not gonna meet 'first' unless we're playing. Some people are entirely different on stage than off so meeting isn't really valuable IMO. Whatever we need to meet about can be discussed on the phone. That being said, first ensure that his goals are congruent with the band's. You can get this from a phone interview you should next see if he's playing out live anywhere or if he has any videos of his performances, live or otherwise. You can weed out a few guys right there.

Send him a variety of material from your setlist. Pick some songs that are more 'shredding' songs and some that will allow you to evaluate his rhythm/pocket playing. At the audition be sure to just improvise a couple of songs to see how he reacts.

Unfortunantly auditioning is a painful process. Sometimes you can tell by watching the guy setup if he'll work out or not. Sometimes it takes a few gigs. which is why the 'trial' works out.
 
#53
Like others have said here screening people is what it is all about. I dont have time to waste on time wasters,wanna-bees, rockstars and bums. The first band I was in could never find a 2nd guitarist so we used a sub. The drummer would run ads and bring in a long list of losers to the practice place to audition without screening a single one.
He told them what we played and where/when to show up. Lets just say it was an experience and I learned right there never do it that way.

I screen any band and ask questions.I would expect anyone we would try out to do the same. The best player doesnt always get the gig ...attitude, dedication and desire is sometimes much more important.
 
#55
The main reason for an interview, meeting, pre-screen, etc. is for the sake of my band-mates. Most of the guys I work with have day jobs, families, other bands, gigs, etc. Because of that, I need to prescreen candidates to make sure that this person won't waste my bandmate's time because it can be a pain in the butt to coordinate schedules. And if I'm in one of those bands where I have a rotating line-up of hired guns that never rehearses, it may not be possible for me to get people to show up to audition someone.

The interview, IMO, is very important. It can be done over the phone, but prefer in person, and at least for an impromptu jam. For example, if I'm auditioning a vocalist, I'll just bring my acoustic and have him/her sing along. No need to bring everyone together if the person can't play, or they have a different direction or goals in mind.

As far as telling if someone can actually play, I prefer working with experienced musicians. I expect anyone who has been doing this for a while to have some body of work, whether it's recordings or bands that they have worked with. One of the great things about having a good network of musicians is that you can also cross reference with other people what their experience is like with a certain candidate. You can also do a Google search to see if you can verify their claims as well.

Out of respect for my bandmates' time, I do some type of pre-screen always.
 
#56
James Judson said:
Most of ya'll audition like a garage band with nothing but time on your hands and no gigs.

Sunday I get a call to do an audition at a local bar next Saturday. I'm given a list of 45 songs we're doing. They will see very clearly what time I show up. What gear I gig with. Am I prepared for the songs they play. Personalities will show over beers after set up. How do I handle the stress on stage. How do I participate in entertaining a crowd.

I have "jammed" once with the drummer and have no clue who else is in the band. They are giving me $100 bux for my time. If I do well, I'm invited back. If I don't do well they'll find someone else. Now thats an audition.

By the way I've done lots of these kinds of auditions and usually turn down the next round of auditions unless theres a big carrot.

The way most of ya'll audition I would start ignoring phone calls and emails after the first contact. Then ya'll would call me a FLAKE.
Click to expand...

This is how you audition a guy with a KNOWN reputation as a pro level sub. This is not how you audition a complete unknown for a new position. Translation, only a fool would "audition" someone they don't know at a gig.
 
#57
bluewine said:
I see where your coming from.That's more of a pro strategy for an audition.

A lot of us are auditioning on the low end caliber of bands.

blue
Click to expand...


No, it's not. No pro band is going to audition a bass player at a gig. They might hire a known SUB in this manner, but most are going to want to make sure a new bass player can play before letting him ruin a gig.
 
#58
bluewine said:
A lot of you guys frown on the;

  • Are you married?

  • Do you have a girl friend?

  • What do you do for a living?

  • Where did you go to school?

  • I noticed somebody dropped you off here, do you have your own transportation?

These are good screen out the flakes questions.

blue
Click to expand...

Well, Blue, you can screen everybody who has a LIFE, but that's not the best way to pick a band mate. People who have wives and girlfriends can still be reliable bandmates.
 

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